Luton Churches Education Trust

Sir Christopher Ball

Sir Christopher Ball is a leading thinker, reformer, and implementer of education policy. After studying at Oxford University, he went on to become an academic and a policy maker, with interests in: early learning, brain science, further and higher education, and learning in the workplace. Sir Christopher has held numerous prestigious positions in higher education institutions, and has served on, or chaired, many advisory committees. He was knighted more than a decade ago for his services to education. Sir Christopher has close ties with Westminster Institute of Education and he is a member of The Oxford Cognitive Neuroscience Education Forum.

John D’Abbro

John was the Head Teacher of Channel 4’s Jamie’s Dream School. The television programme brought ‘together some of Britain's most inspirational individuals to see if they can persuade 20 young people who've left school with little to show for the experience to give education a second chance’. Aside from Dream School, John is Head of the New Rush Hall Group, an organization that works with children with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. John has Apple Distinguished Educator status and is particularly interested in Digital Creativity and its therapeutic use with disaffected and disturbed students. In January 2007, John was awarded an OBE for his services to Special Education, and has received an Honorary Doctorate of Education from the University of East London.

Professor Les Ebdon

Professor Ebdon was appointed Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Luton in 2003.  On August 1 2006 he became Vice Chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire.  Professor Ebdon is a member of the Ministerial Advisory Panel of Further Education and Skills and Chair of the University think-tank million+

Sireita Mullings

Working with photography and new media, Sireita has initiated and been involved in numerous youth arts projects across London, sharing multimedia techniques with young people to strengthen their advantage whilst engaging them in social enterprise. She is currently completing her PhD at Goldsmiths University of London, which is an ethnographic study in Visual Sociology on the "Impact of the Arts on Multiethnic young people living in London".

Mark Pike

Mark Pike works for Ridgemond Training, and has delivered one of the 10 RPA trial projects in the UK. His experience in the delivery of the trial project has shown him the key factors that need to be in place to make implementing the RPA a success.   

Jason Royce

Jason has worked with young people, in and out of school settings, for the past 11 years and now leads the work of LCET's Re-engagement team. Jason will talk about the challenges and learning from designing projects aimed at helping young people reach their full potential.

Johnny Scott

Johnny has delivered the Compass project at LCET since it began in 2009. Working with young people both in and out of a school environment, he uses his passion for playing sport to engage young people and to build mentoring relationships with them.

Gavin Shuker

Gavin is MP for Luton South. Born and raised in Luton, Gavin is a former Icknield High School pupil. His position as an MP and his dedication to Luton gives him a unique insight into what that government's RPA agenda will look like in practice.

Craig Smith

Craig is the 16-19 Strategic Lead for Luton Borough Council - with the key task of working to ensure the education provision meets the needs of young people. Previously Craig worked for the LSC in Beds and Luton then Connexions Beds and Luton before that.

Lynn Thackway

Lynn is the Vice Principle of the Barnfield Federation.

Donna Wade

Donna gained a degree in psychology at the University of Hertfordshire and went onto apply this to working with children and young people in a variety of settings and with varying emotional, behavioural and special education needs. Donna worked at a school in Luton for 18 months before joining the team at LCET 2 years ago. Here she has been working therapeutically on the ground with teenagers across Luton who self-harm, and she has also been working on a national level for the website selfharm.co.uk. She regularly delivers training to professionals on this topic.

Claire Yuen

Claire trained in graphic design in Luton before going on to assist with the University in their chaplaincy department. She then worked at a local charity for the homeless as a drug and alcohol worker and later as a manager. Her first contact with LCET was as a volunteer on one of the summer camps, which led to more regular volunteering and eventually a full time role on the therapeutic team.